Super Eagles have all to play for… $12.5 million minimum at stake for World Cup qualification

BY KUNLE SOLAJA

Beyond the local promises, the Super Eagles have all to play for as they meet the Black Stars on Tuesday.

Qualifiers for the World Cup in the past get $1.5m to prepare for the great show.

At the last World Cup losers at the Group Stage got $8m each. For every edition, the stake gets higher.

So it is expected that more money will be at stake this time around. The prize of qualifying for the World Cup is even greater than what the winner of the Africa Cup of Nations get.

This time, the guaranteed prize is $2.5m. Despite the increase in prize for the Afcon at the 2021 edition played this year, Senegal the champions have $6m as against the $8m that Nigeria and each of the other teams eliminated at the Group Stage of Russia 2018 World Cup got.

Apart from the qualification fee of $2.5 million there is another  $10 million if the team fails to go beyond the Group Stage.

The money continues to increase if the team advance beyond the Group Stage as the 2022 FIFA World Cup prize pool has increased by 80% compared to 2014 World Cup finals held in Brazil.

Round of 16, which had been the Super Eagles’ limit as obtained in 1994, 1998 and 2018, will attract $12m this time around. If the Super Eagles get to the quarter-finals, they will get $16m.

A win is all the Super Eagles need to partake in the sharing formula.